Apparatus and method for an electro-mechanical cable overstress indicator

1. A marine electro-mechanical cable comprising:

a strength member extending along a section of the electro-mechanical cable;

conductors connecting plural piezoelectric seismic sensors, the conductors extending along the section of the electro-mechanical cable;

an overstress indicator cable comprising a non-twisted conductor disposed within the section of the electro-mechanical cable; and

an outer jacket enclosing the strength member, the overstress indicator cable, the conductors and the plural piezoelectric seismic sensors,

wherein a characteristic of the non-twisted conductor is selected so that the non-twisted conductor breaks before the conductors when a tension in the non-twisted conductor is greater than an allowable working load for the electro-mechanical cable, and

wherein the characteristic is at least one of a material and a gauge.

2. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the non-twisted conductor is copper.

3. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the non-twisted conductor is further adapted to break when the tension in the non-twisted conductor creates a strain in the non-twisted conductor of greater than 0.02%.

4. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the non-twisted conductor is further adapted to break when the tension in the non-twisted conductor is both greater than the allowable working load of the electro-mechanical cable and less than the tension required to break twisted pair conductors disposed in the electro-mechanical cable.

5. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the overstress indicator cable is wrapped helically around the strength member disposed lengthwise in the section of electro-mechanical cable.

6. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the overstress indicator cable is disposed in a cabling layer comprising at least one additional cable.

7. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 6 , wherein the cabling layer is disposed within the strength member.

8. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 6 , wherein the at least one additional cable is one of a twisted pair, twisted triple, twisted quad, and fiber optic cable.

9. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the strength member is disposed substantially in a middle of the outer jacket, the overstress indicator cable and the conductors being wrapped around the strength member.

10. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , wherein the overstress indicator cable comprises a second non-twisted conductor.

11. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 1 , further comprising a monitoring device connected to the overstress indicator cable, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to determine if the non-twisted conductor has broken.

12. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 10 , wherein the monitoring device is adapted to apply a voltage to the non-twisted conductors.

13. The marine electro-mechanical cable of claim 12 , further comprising:

a first connector comprising a resistor and disposed at the beginning of a first section of the electro-mechanical cable;

a second connector comprising a resistor and disposed at the end of the first section of the electromechanical cable;

a third connector comprising a resistor and disposed at the beginning of a second section of the electro-mechanical cable; and

a fourth connector comprising a resistor and disposed at the end of the second section of the electro-mechanical cable,

wherein the non-twisted conductors of the overstress indicator cable are connected to the first connector and the second connector, the second connector is connected to the third connector, and non-twisted conductors of a second overstress indicator cable disposed in the second section are connected to the third connector and the fourth connector such that the resistors of the first, second, third, and fourth connectors are in a parallel circuit.

14. A method for detecting an overstress condition in an electro-mechanical cable comprising:

applying a voltage to a non-twisted conductor in an overstress indicator cable;

measuring at least one characteristic of a circuit formed by the non-twisted conductor and one of a second non-twisted conductor, a strength member, and a twisted conductor;

comparing the measured characteristic to an expected value for the characteristic; and

if the measured characteristic varies from the expected value for the characteristic by more than a predetermined amount, indicating that an overstress condition has occurred in the electro-mechanical cable,

wherein the non-twisted conductor breaks when a tension in the non-twisted conductor is greater than an allowable working load for the electro-mechanical cable.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the characteristic is one of amperage and resistance.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein comparing the measured characteristic to the expected value for the characteristic further comprises:

determining if a measured amperage is lower than an expected amperage.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein comparing the measured characteristic to the expected value for the characteristic further comprises:

determining if a measured resistance is greater than an expected resistance.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining a section of the electro-mechanical cable in which the indicated overstress condition has occurred using the measured characteristic, the expected value for the characteristic, a physical property of the circuit, and the number of sections in the electro-mechanical cable.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the physical property of the circuit is a quantity of resistors in the circuit in each section of the electro-mechanical cable.

20. A marine electro-mechanical cable comprising:

an outer jacket;

a strength member disposed lengthwise substantially in a middle of the outer jacket;

foam disposed inside the outer jacket;

a seismic sensor component disposed inside the outer jacket;

an overstress indicator cable, comprising non-twisted conductors, wrapped helically around the strength member within a cabling layer that also includes at least one conductor connected to the seismic sensor component, each of the non-twisted conductors comprising copper wire disposed within a respective insulation jacket, wherein the non-twisted conductors break when a tension in the non-twisted conductors is greater than an allowable working load of the electro-mechanical cable before the at least one conductor breaks;

a first connector and a second connector disposed within the electro-mechanical cable, wherein first ends of the non-twisted conductors are connected to the first connector and second ends of the non-twisted conductors are connected to the second connector; and

a monitoring device comprising at least one of an ammeter and an ohmmeter connected to the overstress indicator cable, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to apply a voltage to the non-twisted conductors, measure a characteristic of a circuit formed by the non-twisted conductors, compare the measured characteristic to an expected value thereof, and, if the measured characteristic varies from the expected value by more than a predetermined amount, indicate that an overstress condition has occurred in the electro-mechanical cable the tension in the non-twisted conductors having exceeded the allowable working load of the electro-mechanical cable.